Overview

Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures… these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.

Length 84 minutes

Actors

Viewing Notes

Kinda wild that they (LucasFilm) included a documentary about SW 501st cosplayers. Oh LucasFilm is in the movie.

Fuck. this is really well made! This must be official bc they use John Williams score throughout and use specific SW tracks perfectly to accent each segment. Oh LucasFilm did the distribution (Prometheus Entertainment is the production company).

As soon as I thought “they gotta go to Japan right??!” The next segment is in Japan. Wish I had known about that Cantina bar in Ebisu! I wanna go there. These guys are hilarious talking about the Rose Parade. Fun seeing the couple walk around Shinjuku in their Stormtrooper armor.

Weird coincidence that I read that article about Steve Sansweet today (about his SW collection getting stolen) and here he is in this film selecting Stormtroopers for the Rose Parade. The description for this film is incomplete; yes it starts with the 501st Legion showing how their hobby can help others (hospital visits and whatnot, which is awesome) but the true narrative is about the members of the 501st selected to march in the 2007 Rose Parade when George Lucas was the Grand Marshal.

Lucas wanted 200 stormtroopers in the parade so Sansweet was tasked with recruiting them. That’s the movie. And like all good documentaries, it has drama and conflict and resolve. It’s emotional and heartwarming. This is how I like to remember SW fandom. Truly a great doc that had me invested the entire time.